The New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 this year will have 20 participants, and be staged over 19 shows (July 20th and run through August 16th) making it the longest G1 Tournament to date. The NJPW tradition goes back to 1975, previous winners include Hulk Hogan, Antonio Inoki, Andre The Giant, to the modern day participants like Okada, Tanahashi, and Nakamura. Masahiro Chono was the last “Gaijin” to win it, in 2005, his 5th victory.
The blocks for the 2015 NJPW G1, are as follows;
Block A
AJ Styles (Current IWGP Hvy Champion)
Togi Makabe (Current NEVER Openweight Champion, Winner in 2009)
Hiroyoshi Tenzan (Current NWA Champion, 3 Time Winner in 2003, 2004, 2006)
Hiroshi Tanahashi (Winner in 2007)
Tetsuya Naito (Winner in 2013)
Katsuyori Shibata (3rd G1 in a row)
Toru Yano (9th G1 in a row)
Doc Gallows (2nd G1 in a row)
Bad Luck Fale (2nd G1 i a row)
Kota Ibushi (Missed 2014 G1 due to injury)
Block B
Kazuchika Okada (Defending G1 Winner. 2 Time Winner in 2012, 2014)
Hirooki Goto (Current IWGP Int Champion, Winner in 2008)
Yuji Nagata (Winner in 2001)
Satoshi Kojima (Winner in 2010)
Shinsuke Nakamura (Winner in 2011)
Tomohiro Ishii (3rd G1 in a row)
Yujiro Takahashi (6th G1 in a row)
Karl Anderson (6th G1 in a row)
Michael Elgin (Making his G1 Debut – ROH)
Tomoaki Honma (2nd G1 in a row)
Matches to look out for;
JULY
20th of July: Shibata/Styles, Tanahashi/Ibushi
23rd of July: Okada/Elgin, Nakamura/Anderson
24th of July: Tanahashi/Tenzan, Shibata/Naito
25th of July: Nagata/Nakamura, Honma/Okada
26th of July: Ibushi/Styles, Tanahashi/Naito
28th of July: Goto/Honma, Kojima/Okada
29th of July: Naito/Styles, Shibata/Ibushi
AUGUST
1st of August: Goto/Okada, Nakamura/Ishii
2nd of August: Tenzan/Ibushi, Tanahashi/Yano
4th of August: Nagata/Ishii, Goto/Nakamura
5th of August: Styles/Makabe, Naito/Ibushi
7th of August: Nakamura/Yujiro, Okada/Ishii
8th of August: Tenzan/Styles, Tanahashi/Shibata
9th of August: Goto/Ishii, Honma/Nakamura
11th of August: Styles/Fale, Tanahashi/Makabe
12th of August: Nagata/Okada, Honma/Ishii
14th of August: Makabe/Ibushi, Styles/Tanahashi
15th of August: Nagata/Goto, Nakaamura/Okada
16th of August: Finals between the A block winner and the B block winner!
How does it work?
Everyone in Block A fights each other once, everyone in Block B fights each other once, and 2 points are awarded for a win. The wrestler with the most points in each Block (A & B) are declared the winner of their respective Block. Winner A vs Winner B decides the overall champion.